How the Bailout Act Impacts Employee Benefits
The economy has been front and center in the headlines for months now, and with a recession looming there appears to be no end in sight to talk about the government’s financial “bailout,” formally known as the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. The government’s emergency financial plans – such as the $700 billion price tag - are well known. But the new law also contains some noteworthy provisions that may affect how you handle certain employee benefits.
Within the Act lies a mouthful of legislation—the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008—which will mandate equal coverage in an employer’s group health-care plan for physical and mental illnesses. That means that many employers will have to ensure that their plans cover substance-abuse disorders and mental illnesses. Small employers, those with fewer than 50 employees, most likely will not be subject to the statute. But it’s best to talk to an attorney about what implications the mental health parity could have on your particular operations. The Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services must issue regulations on this law by October 2009, so we can expect to see some guidance on how to properly administer the mental health-care benefits in the relatively near future.
The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act also provides incentives for workers who bike to work. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2009, employees who commute by bicycle may be eligible for a $20 per month reimbursement from their employers. This provision of the Act is similar to the commuter benefit that already exists for employees who take public transit to work. Reimbursements for bike travel aren’t mandatory, but employers who offer the benefit may be able to boost their write-offs come tax time. The bike-commuting provision goes into effect with the 2009 tax year.
The Act also extends the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) surtax at its current rate of 0.2 percent through 2009. The surtax is a cherry on top of the regular FUTA tax, which employers pay toward the funding of state workforce programs that coordinate unemployment insurance benefits.
For more, download a summary of the Act’s main provisions by visiting http://banking.senate.gov/public/_files/EESASummary1.pdf.
Four Ways to Manage Your Work and Financial Stress
Are you overly stressed? If so, you’re not alone. According to the American Psychological Society’s 2008 Stress in America poll, the country’s declining economy seems to be the biggest cause of physical and emotional stress on workers these days, with women feeling the financial pinch the most. With more workers questioning whether they can adequately provide for their families, it’s likely an increasing number of people will feel some form of financial stress.
According to the APA, there are steps we can all take to alleviate stress, be it caused by finances or your workplace. Start by recognizing stress-related symptoms, which include irritability, changes in sleep patterns and appetite, headaches, stomach aches, intestinal problems, nervousness, excessive worry, and feelings of sadness and depression. Also, evaluate whether you’re more at risk for stress because of your age or gender.
The poll showed that women, particularly those from the Baby Boomer generation, see their financial health as tantamount to their personal wellbeing. This group also reported more workplace stress than other groups. Millennials, that is those workers ranging in age from 18 to 29, and Generation Xers, those from age 30 to 43, aren’t immune to stress, however. The poll revealed that Gen X women were concerned with money, while most Millennials were concerned about housing costs.
While the source of everyday stress may not have a direct link to the workplace, the effects can spill over to work. Of course in some instances work can be the source of people’s stress. If you’re feeling as though stress is affecting your life consider the following:
Evaluate how you handle stress. Can you identify when you’re stressed out? Ask yourself how your thoughts change when you’re experiencing anxiety.
Identify what’s causing your stress. If you can pinpoint the cause of your stress, be it related to finances, work, health, or family, you’ll be in a better position to proactively deal with your emotions.
Take a breather. Learn how to recognize your sources of stress. When you feel a pounding headache coming on, get out of the office and take a brisk walk or take a coffee break.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. If you’re overburdened with a work project, tell your boss. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness. If put the right way, it could put you on top. For example, by saying that you want to do the best job possible but you’re not able to fully devote your talents because you’re low on time or resources, your supervisor should get the picture: You possess a high-degree of integrity and care enough about the work to ask for help.
Regardless of your gender or age, stress is an inevitable fact of life. For more on how to cope with your workplace and other stresses, download the APA’s Stress Tips Sheet at http://apahelpcenter.mediaroom.com/file.php/164/Stress+Tip+Sheet+FINAL.doc.
How to Use the Internet to Impress Potential Employers
Any employment counselor will tell you that networking is something to be done during good times and bad, while you have a job and when you don’t. By attending industry events, keeping in touch with former colleagues and staying tight with your college classmates, you’ll have a job hunting safety net if you ever find yourself “disemployed.”
But a job search needs to take place on many fronts and an obvious complement to person-to-person networking is the Internet. By using the Web for more than just an online job search, you can broaden your network of contacts, demonstrate your knowledge and promote yourself in a simple and convenient way. If you’re in the job market here are some online tips to help with your search.
Start a blog. When you’re in job-search mode you want to use as many tools as possible to help potential employers learn about you. Start a blog and demonstrate your smarts. You’d like others to view you as a leader in your profession. Write about trends taking place in your industry. That will force you to stay current and show HR people you know what’s going on. Are you in finance? Write about how companies manage their finances in a slow economy. Give opinions on what works and what doesn’t. Connect it to specific examples of work that you’ve done. Blogs are easy to set up and you don’t need to be Shakespeare to write. Just keep your thoughts simple, well organized and grammatically correct.
Link to others. Once you’ve set your blog up, find others who are also writing about your field or something related. Leave a thoughtful reply in the Comments field. You can refer to your own blog, but do so while adding to the conversation. Don’t just promote your own blog and dash off.
Make a video. Maybe you’re someone who communicates well speaking directly to people and not merely writing. You may have self-confidence that you can’t project through a blog. Invest in an inexpensive web cam and create a short video that reveals your understanding of your work or industry, while also showing off your speaking skills. Then post it on YouTube. Imagine you were making a sales pitch to someone. Get creative. Post a series of videos and identify them as such : “How I Created This Awesome Software Program. Pt. 1.”
Use Social Networks. By now most people are aware of social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook and MySpace. These online communities can be useful in finding people who share your interests and activities. While Linked In is considered the most business-oriented site of the main social networking services, increasingly people are using Facebook and MySpace as ways to present different sides of themselves to potential employers.
Post wisely to job boards. It’s far easier today to apply for a job with a company than in the past, by going to the company’s web site and submitting your resume. But with some companies your resume might not go to a hiring manager first. Instead it’s scanned by a software program. With luck it will be flagged for the hiring manager to review. Improve your chances by reading the qualifications closely on the job posting and including some keywords near the top of your resume.
Nose Dive
One industry’s tragedy is another’s treasure. Last month the Audit Bureau of Circulations came up with its bi-annual report on circulation among the country’s major newspapers. No surprises. Circulation was down sharply at most big market dailies, except for USA Today and the Wall Street Journal – which were flat. The collapse is even less surprising when you consider the flight of jobseekers and recruiters from newsprint to the Internet.
According to a report by the Pew Internet Project, the number of Americans who have used the Internet to search for a job rose from about 52 million in 2002 to about 102 million by 2007, an increase of more than 50 percent. The draw for jobseekers is obviously the array of jobsites they can peruse online and the ease of replying to a job posting. Type up a cover letter, attach your resume and you’re done!
That same simplicity has also meant a surge in resumes that department heads and HR managers receive for each opening. But given the dollar savings they’re achieving with online recruitment ads, it’s probably a swap they’re willing to make. A study by the Society for Human Resource Management found that the average cost per hire with an Internet recruiting approach was $377, compared to $3,295 through traditional major market newspaper advertising.
Traditionalists may lament the passing of newspapers, but bottom-liners have no regrets.
